Reality will never be "beautiful"

Crack! Crack!

As Konan and Yahiko stared in shock and horror at the scene before them.

The city gate let out a grating screech, and the water that had been flowing down from it began to churn wildly in every direction under some unseen force.

It was the suction from the gate slowly opening!

Hearing the sound of the gate opening, the refugees, who had been like corpses, all turned their eyes toward it. A glimmer of hope appeared in their gazes, and they began to converge in that direction.

"The gate is open!"

A flicker of joy returned to Yahiko's face, and he couldn't help but take a step forward, wanting to run too.

But suddenly, someone grabbed him by the collar, the force so strong it made him gag.

"Cough, cough! What are you doing..." Yahiko turned his head in fury to glare at the culprit.

Before he could finish speaking, however, a dark figure appeared out of nowhere, blocking the bridge that was the only way into the city.

On his head was a rain hat, on his body a night-traveling outfit, and on his forehead a headband with four vertical lines, like a symbol of rain.

He was...

A Rain Shinobi!

Instantly, the surging refugees halted in their tracks. Besides numbness and longing, an unmistakable fear surfaced on their faces!

Their terror of shinobi momentarily overpowered their desire to live.

Soon, two rows of fully armed swordsmen emerged from behind, their fine armor clanking with metallic sounds.

As if afraid the refugees would storm the gate, the swordsmen silently took their positions on the bridge, even setting up barricades.

"Cross the bridge without permission, and you die! Force the gate without permission, and you die!"

At the swordsmen's unanimous warning, the terrified refugees instinctively backed away.

Just then.

The Rain Shinobi stepped forward, raised his head slightly, and swept his gaze over the refugees before him. He spoke: "Everyone, have you been hungry for a long time?"

After a brief silence, only scattered replies came back, making the Rain Shinobi frown slightly.

"Who turned you into this? Who made you homeless?"

The Rain Shinobi's tone and expression grew impassioned as he looked down at the crowd and shouted: "Our country is still weeping, but the weak leader of Amegakure continues to grovel before the great nations that dragged us into war!"

"But what has their groveling earned them?!"

At this point, his fervent speech suddenly paused. He noticed that the refugees were all looking at him, and a smile crept onto his face.

"In the First Shinobi World War, the small nations were all destroyed by the Five Great Nations, leaving only us to serve as a buffer zone for war!"

"In the coming Second Shinobi World War, our country will once again become a battlefield for the great nations! Everything we have is being taken from us by those great powers!"

"As long as the incompetent leader of Amegakure remains, this country will keep weeping! We need a true hero to lead us in resisting those great nations, to bring us peace through absolute power!"

"And that hero is our Lord Hanzo! Lord Hanzo of the Salamander!"

The Rain Shinobi fixed his gaze on the crowd and declared loudly: "Lord Hanzo has said that he is willing to share his own food to relieve your suffering, and he hopes that those with ambition will join us!!"

As the Rain Shinobi's stirring words rang out, a light appeared in the refugees' eyes.

Especially when they saw the swordsmen set up a rain shelter and carry out basket after basket of bread, the refugees grew restless.

"Lord Hanzo!"

Shouts began to rise from the crowd, gradually turning into a unified chant!

"Lord Hanzo! Lord Hanzo!"

Rainwater dripped like broken pearls from the edge of his umbrella. Watching the scene gradually turn into a frenzy, a playful smile curled at the corner of Yun Chuan's lips.

"How utterly boring."

Yun Chuan glanced to the side and thought to himself: "Still, someone must be feeding Hanzo these ideas behind the scenes. For certain hot-blooded types, it's surprisingly effective."

Sure enough, Yahiko was staring fixedly at the scene before the gate, his eyes full of restless eagerness.

The Rain Shinobi kept harping on the same things—how incompetent the current leader of Amegakure was, how evil and detestable the Five Great Nations that started the wars were, and how powerful, wise, and brave Lord Hanzo was.

Only after giving away half the bread did he pause his speech and shout loudly: "Today's relief ends here!"

"Lord Hanzo is raising funds to gather like-minded individuals, wanting to lead everyone in changing this weeping country. Any adult men with ideas can come sign up!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a thunderous wave of wailing erupted.

"Shinobi-sama! Women aren't allowed? I can do anything!"

"Sir! Don't go! Our children are starving to death, please give us a piece of bread!"

Seeing refugees crying and pressing forward, the Rain Shinobi's eyes narrowed slightly, and the smile on his face turned cold.

As if.

With thousands of refugees gathered here, even the capital of the Land of Rain couldn't feed them all. Handing out relief to a hundred or so each day was just for show.

In the end, they were nothing but cannon fodder.

So when he saw someone reaching out to him, the Rain Shinobi's eyes turned icy cold.

"Ah!!"

He kicked the refugee in the hollow of the knee, the merciless force of the blow instantly twisting the man's leg into a grotesque angle. With a pained howl, the man lost his balance and crashed to the ground.

"Don't get too greedy, you bastard. Thank Lord Hanzo I didn't just kill you outright!" Looking down at the man clutching his leg and wailing, the Rain Shinobi's smile was frigid. He then raised his head to scan the other refugees.

In an instant, the starving crowd was reminded of the fear that ninjas commanded.

"Listen up!"

A man suddenly stepped out from among the samurai, his tone solemn as he shouted: "Lord Daimyo is taking in maidservants. Ages twelve to sixteen, fair-faced ones preferred. Their families will receive five loaves of bread!"

At this, the cowed crowd erupted into noise once more.

Soon, a gaunt young girl emerged from among the refugees, pulling along a boy of five or six. She asked in a low voice: "Samurai-sama, I am willing to serve Lord Daimyo, but I want to exchange for ten... no, seven loaves of bread."

"Seven?"

The samurai rumbled back in a flat tone, then tossed five loaves of bread at the girl's feet. His voice was cold: "A deal is a deal. No matter who it is, they're only worth five loaves."

The girl did not haggle further. Silently, she picked up the bread, lowered her head, and handed it to the boy beside her. Forcing a smile onto her face, she said: "Crucian, big sister is going to live a good life now. You take these back and—"

Before she could finish, someone suddenly rushed out, snatched two loaves straight from her hands, and yanked her to the ground with such force that she fell. Without looking back, the thief shoved his way out of the crowd.

The frail girl scrambled to her feet, chasing after him and screaming: "Give them back!"

But then, from somewhere in the crowd, a foot shot out and tripped the newly risen girl.

"HAHAHAHA!"

Seeing this, a wave of malicious, envious laughter erupted from the crowd.

These people were now the lowest of the low. Under the pressure of war and death, their natures had gradually twisted.

As for the samurai and the Rain Shinobi, they merely watched coldly from the sidelines.

They had completed their transaction and taken the girl. Whether she could keep those loaves of bread...

That was none of their concern.

"How... can this be..."

In the distance, Yahiko witnessed all of this. His cracked lips parted slightly, revealing clearly visible reddened blood vessels, and a hoarse, low murmur escaped his mouth.

He could hardly believe what he was seeing!

He and Konan had come here clinging to their last shred of hope for survival, eating garbage the entire way.

But what he was seeing now was even more despairing than the sights along the road!

Why? Why had the capital become like this?

"Because this is a real world."

As if sensing Yahiko's confusion, Yun Chuan let out a sigh and said softly: "And reality is never 'beautiful'."

With that, he slightly raised his eyelids.

Without him noticing, several figures had already gathered around, their eyes fixed on the bundle behind his back. On their pale, emaciated faces was nothing but ugly, naked greed.